UN Security Council Discusses U.S. Violations of Iraqi and Syrian Sovereignty
The United Nations Security Council met on February 5 to discuss the U.S. violations of Syrian and Iraqi sovereignty during last week's attacks. The meeting was called by Russia which claimed that through its reckless acts of aggression and violations of the UN charter, the U.S. threatens international peace and security. That same day the U.S. had carried out 85 attacks at different locations in Syria and Iraq, killing 37 and 17 people respectively. It claimed that the attacks were carried out in response to attacks on its bases by the Iraqi militias and resistance groups. In one of those attacks, at least three U.S. soldiers were killed and dozens of others were wounded.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. representative in the UN, claimed that they were carried out in "self-defence" citing article 51 of the UN Charter which sets out individual or collective self-defence of a member country in case of an armed attack. The U.S. representative also tried to differentiate the U.S. and UK joint attacks inside Yemen from the attacks carried out in Iraq and Syria.
Syria's Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh rejected the U.S. claims that the attacks on Syria and Iraq were retaliatory, calling the U.S. argument "flimsy and misleading" and "flagrant violations of international law, humanitarian law and the principles and purposes of the United Nations," He accused the U.S. of providing blind and unlimited support to the Israeli occupation and the atrocities it is committing against the Palestinian people, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The Iraqi representative Abbas Kadhim Obaid called the U.S. strikes a violation of his country's sovereignty and security, and asked the Security Council to do its work and protect the territorial integrity of all the countries including Iraq and Syria.
Iran's Ambassador Saeed Iravani called the U.S. strikes "illegal and unjustified" and said that they "blatantly violate the basic norms and principles of international law, and the UN charter." Iran accused the U.S. of ignoring the root causes of the conflict in the region which is "occupation, aggression and continued genocide and horrific atrocities committed by [the] Israeli regime and fully supported by the U.S. against the Palestinian people."
The Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour issued a letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council criticizing the council for its inaction in the face of the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, and expressing disappointment over the body's inability to fulfil its mandate to protect peace and security. He wrote that the death toll in Gaza "should have long ago compelled the Security Council to demand a ceasefire."
"But the Council continues to betray its charter mandate and the expectations of nearly the entire international community demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for months now," he said. Mansour said only a ceasefire can "ensure implementation of the ICJ provisional measures. [...] and resolutions to protect the Palestinian civilian population. [...] We once again implore the Council, General Assembly, and all states and organizations to uphold their obligations, in accordance with international law," he added.
South Africa's Minister of International Relations, Naledi Pandor, has warned that all states have a legal obligation to uphold the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in regard to Israel's actions in Gaza, adding that failure to do so is complicity in the crimes of genocide. "In fact, all states now have a legal obligation to ensure respect for the provisional measures as well as ensure that they are not complicit in the genocide," Pandor explained. "Essentially if the case proceeds as we anticipate, and it is found that Israel committed genocide, all those who were complicit are as guilty as Israel." Minister Pandor also stressed that despite Israel's "attempts to block the ICJ from making this order, and in its failed attempt to spin the judgment itself as a victory for them, Israel stands facing the international community and peoples of the world."
It stands "having failed to deflect attention from its crimes or justify its unfolding genocide. It is now naked to the world, for the first time."
She explained that "for the first time in 75 years, Israel is being held accountable by an institution and by the global community."
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 10 - February 13, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54109.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca